新奇事件簿 手术让棕色眼球变成蓝色（在线收听）

The boss of an American medical company claims he has developed a technique to turn brown eyes blue. He says a special laser treatment can remove the brown pigment from brown eyes and that will leave a blue colour. Doctor Gregg Homer says this is possible because all brown-eyed people have the pigments to have blue eyes. “Anyone who has brown eyes has blue eyes underneath…. It’s covered by a thin layer of pigment. We’ve developed a laser that can be fired straight through the clear part of the eye, the cornea, and it disrupts the pigment…and it removes it from the eye.” The cost of this new cosmetic surgery will be around $5,000. The procedure is painless and takes just 20 seconds in the doctor’s chair and then two to four weeks for the colour change to take place.

美国一家医疗公司的老板表示，他们研发出一项技术，可以将棕色眼球变成蓝色。他表示，一种特别的激光手术可以从棕色眼球上取下棕色的色素，剩下蓝色。Gregg Homer医生表示，这是可能实现的，因为所有棕色眼球的人都有能让眼球呈现蓝色的色素。“任何棕色眼球的人表层以下都是蓝色的，只不过被一层薄薄的色素覆盖。我们发明了一种激光技术，可以直接穿过透明的角膜，破坏这层色素，将其从眼睛里消除。”这种新的整容手术的成本大约为5000美元。手术过程是无痛的，仅需在医生的椅子上坐20秒钟即可完成，两到四周后眼球的颜色就会发生变化。

Doctor Homer said demand for the treatment is already very high. He recently appeared on a Los Angeles TV show and got 3,000 requests. People will have to wait as the technique has to be approved by the U.S. medical authorities, although it could be available within 18 months in Europe. Homer said: “I think brown eyes are just as beautiful as blue eyes, but I started doing this because I thought it was a cool technology and I thought it would be nice for people to have a choice. I’m glad other people think it’s cool, too.” Homer does have his critics. One, Dr. Elmer Tu, spokesman for the American College of Ophthalmology, told America’s CBS News that the released brown pigment could potentially blind a person. He recommended blue contact lenses instead.

Homer医生表示，对这项手术的要求已经非常高。他最近参加了洛杉矶电视台一个节目，已经收到3000名病人的请求。人们还需等待一段时间，因为该技术必须由美国医疗机构批准，而欧洲18个月之内即可实现。Homer表示：“我认为棕色眼球和蓝色眼球一样漂亮，但是我开始研究这项手术是因为我觉得这是一项很酷的技术，可以让人们多一个选择。我很开心其他人也认为这项技术非常好。”当然也有人批评Homer。美国眼科大学发言人Elmer Tu医生告诉美国CBS新闻，被破坏的棕色色素可能会致盲。他建议戴蓝色隐形眼镜比较好。